Quote:
Originally Posted by MetroMPG
Neat idea, Ben.
What about your Chevy S-10 diesel pickup?
Bio-fuel capable: check!
Capacity to carry a heavy lead-acid battery pack: check!
Additional OEM axle available (front) for parallel electric 4 wheel drive: check!
Already have it: check!
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You've secretly been reading my mind....
That is another vehicle possibility.
The "Bio-diesel Pickup Project" has been sitting around for a while. I have the truck, the engine, the transmission, and the custom clutch plate. The big part is figuring the adapter plate, and marrying everything together, then getting it back in the truck.
If it were a front-wheel drive truck, I think I might already have jumped on finishing the diesel conversion and adding an electric system.
I have no idea what it would take to change out a front axel. I would imagine that it would also need the transfer case, and then suspension to match. That sounds like it starts to get complicated.
The EMIS system uses a series-would DC motor IN THE DRIVESHAFT as a "booster" for a gasoline engine. That wouldn't make for regenerative braking or freeway cruise-charging, nor would it give me four-wheel drive (which would be pretty cool!) but I wouldn't have to go to 4x4 components on the front of the vehicle either.
I really haven't seen any AC or brushless DC motors with a nice big tailshaft on them that could be hooked right onto a shortened drive-shaft.
I'd like to use something other than Lead-Acid, but I just don't think there's budget for it. Charging is a little less tempermental with lead-acid as well, and I have a feeling that may become an advantage for cruise-charging.
I know of at least one current AC motor designed to run on 156V. (The old Solectrias all ran that voltage as well.)
I saw a brushless DC motor that I think would be powerful enough that can run on 96V.
Daox, the motor controller that you have, do you know if that can run on lower voltage? Tom's car is running around 300V - now THAT's a lot of lead to be dragging around.
JasonG's comment "Swapping in a 1997 up TDI will help FE, parts, etc. A wrecked Golf would be a good donor." might also apply to the potential use of a Rabbit Pickup. The guy I know who has the pair of them also has another VW engine kicking around. I think it's a TDI (2L?) While larger displacement, I would LOVE to use a turbo!
As for any comments earlier about trailer range-extenders, I want to avoid that. In theory, they are a good idea - only have it when you need it, etc. In practice, trailers are one more thing that you need a place to store it in, and you have to connect and disconnect them. One thing that I have found in my vehicle experiments is that things just have to work AND THEY MUST BE CONVENIENT. A pusher/generator trailer is a good idea for a single long-trip for an EV, but not the best solution for an all-purpose daily driver. That said, they are kinda cool and I would love to see one somebody designed in the real world.
Mr. Sharkey has one I thought was pretty cool. Come to think of it, that was built from a Rabbit too!